//------------------------------//
// Decompression 
// Story: The Return of Greg 
// by sbloom85 
//------------------------------//

	It has been a less than a week since Greg Sanders returned to Earth. He was found in a park in Colorado. He didn't think he'd get a lot of attention just by being dropped off in a park, but boy was he wrong.

For the last two days, he thought he was going to be held captive once again, this time by his own government, but he was surprised to get free meals as well as a shave and haircut before being put into an interrogation room. He knew that there was someone behind the one-way mirror and he just stands in front of it.

"Cy, you go talk to him." A woman in the room says.

A minute later, the door opens up and in comes a man roughly his age, dressed more casually, wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants, a black shirt and a brown leather jacket. It wasn't one of those biker jackets. No, it was heavier. "Have a seat." The man suggests. Greg complies and the mystery man sits down across from him. The man sets a file folder in front of him. "Your name is Greg Sanders, right?" The man asks. Greg nods. "My name is Cyrus Stark. I work freelance for the Universal Security Organization. They've been piecing together your puzzle since you came back."

Greg was shocked by what this Cyrus man knew. "What do you know?" He asks.

Cyrus clears his throat as he opens the folder. "Gregory Alexander Sanders. Born May second, 1990 in Cook County Hospital at three-fourteen AM; part time writer; disappeared along with Chicago's Daily Herald editor Katherine Lawrence August of 2011 while vacationing in the Rockies." Greg's shock was more apparent after Cyrus said all of that. He knew this and forces back a smile. "The USO knows a lot, Mister Sanders, but we don't know everything." He admits. "So... would you mind telling me what happened?" He asks. "Even if you think it would sound absurd, tell me."

Greg looks Cyrus in the eye. "Can I get a cup of coffee first?" He requests. Cyrus looks to the mirror and nods.

A few minutes pass and a man carrying a paper coffee cup and a pot of coffee enters the room and sets it on the table. "Would you like sugar and cream?" He asks.

"No, thank you." Greg says, pouring his first cup of Earth coffee in... "What's today?" He asks Cyrus.

"Today is Saturday, June seventh, 2014." Cyrus answers. "I'd say you had a lot to catch up on, but I'd be lying. Barack Obama was reelected and is in the middle of his second term; Republicans managed to shut down the government for a while, threatening to allow the country to default on its debts; the Affordable Care Act is in full effect, et cetera, et cetera."

"That's quite a bit already, Cyrus." Greg notes, taking a sip of his coffee. "But we're here to talk about me."

Cyrus nods. "Yes. Now... shall we begin?"

I stare into my coffee and let out a quiet sigh. As he said, Kate and I were abducted almost three years ago. Our immediate reaction was typical: we were afraid and confused. Neither of us knew why they took us or what they had planned. They separated us and put us into different rooms, each with its own occupant. My first roommate was a quadruped who excelled in massage therapy, hers was the Avian named Stor. The next day on what I would call the weekly socializing, I met Stor, the one alien being on that vessel I could trust with my life.

A month after our arrival, the woman I was sharing my room with was taken, and in came another. She was a biped and almost human. Stor was taken to another room and in his place was a Belfrean male. Belfreans have the mentality of Scarrans, have an appearance resembling a Krogan and ferocity of Klingons. This Belfrean should've been kept in isolation. Had they done so... Kate would still be alive today. One of the scientists, Ziabok, understood my pain upon losing her and sympathized, but all he could do was continue his work.

Months pass and roommates shuffle. I think I was there for fourteen months before I met the Pony Applejack and her siblings. Those three were probably more frightened upon their arrival than Kate and I were. There was little time, and I HAD to get them back home. It would take a couple of days, but I made sure they were back home.

I decided to blow up the ship. I came to realize that it was a mistake to do such a thing, and I ended up spending roughly ten weeks there, after I learned their reasoning behind the abductions.

"They needed to help their allies." Cyrus says, interrupting Greg's statement.

Greg gives him a shocked look. "How did you know that?"

Cyrus clears his throat. "We have our ways." He explains. "'Project Storm' was an effort to find the key sequence needed to reverse the Galtrans' condition."

Greg swallows hard. How could this person know so much about what was going on, yet not do anything about it? "How long have you known about this?"

"Since you disappeared." Cyrus says. "You're probably wondering why we didn't do anything, right?" Greg nods. "The Universal Security Organization only acts when absolutely necessary."

"You said you work freelance, right?" Greg asks with a confused tone.

"I do, but I have my own problems to deal with." Cyrus says. "Problems that are roughly as old as the universe itself, but I'll save that story for a later day."

"If you know what happened to me... and Kate... then why are we here?" Greg asks, crossing his arms.

"We just wanted to confirm that your memory wasn't altered." Cyrus answers. "We're done here, Mister Sanders. You're free to go." He continues, sliding an envelope to Greg. "We've already got you a plane ticket from DIA to O'Hare."

Greg lets out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Cyrus."

Cyrus stands up, taking the folder with him. "Don't mention it." He says before walking to the door. "How would you like to see them again?"

Greg raises an eyebrow. "The Apple family?" Cyrus nods. "That'd be great, but I don't have a way to get there."

Cyrus smiles. "The USO does." He says before walking out of the room.

This could be Greg's big chance to see them again, not to mention see her friends and family again and explore a new world as he'd only been in Ponyville and Canterlot. He stares into a near empty cup. If this Universal Security Organization had a way to get Greg back to Applejack's world... where else could it take him? He drinks down the last of the coffee, stands up, walks over to a trash bin, throwing away the cup before leaving the room.





Greg is escorted to the lobby, where he catches up to Cyrus and a woman he guessed to be a Universal Security Organization employee. "Mister Stark!" He calls. The two turn around. "How long does your offer stand?"

"Indefinitely, Mister Sanders." Cyrus answers. "We're heading to USO headquarters right now if you'd like to tag."

Greg scratches the back of his head. "Give me a couple of weeks." He says. "I want to catch up with my family."

Cyrus nods. "Fair enough." He says before the three exit the police station and walk to the back end. Cyrus pulls the sleeve of his jacket up, revealing a device that looked like a cross between Fallout's Pip-Boy and Stargate SG-1's GDO.

"What's that?" Greg asks.

Cyrus activates the device and it opens up a portal in front of them. "This is a portable Spatial Rift Generator." He says, pulling his sleeve back down. "It's a device that can take us anywhere at any time." Cyrus and the woman approach the portal, but look back at a baffled Greg. Cyrus and the woman enter the rift and after a few moments it disappears.





It was a long three hour flight. The Universal Security Organization went all out and got him the best flight he had ever been on. How was he going to explain their disappearance? How was he going to explain Kate's death to her parents? He knew for sure no one would believe him if he said they were abducted by aliens, she died on their watch, he blew up their ship, and he spent a couple of months with an equine race before being brought back. No... he'll have to come up with something and he'll need to come up with it quickly.

He arrives at the O'Hare terminal and sees his name plastered on a big piece of cardboard. Hoping it's a friend, cousin... someone he knew, he approaches the person. No... it was someone else.

"Are you with the Universal Security Organization?" He asks.

The woman nods. "I am, Mister Sanders. Name's Tina." She says, extending her hand. "I'm here to take you to your apartment."

Greg shakes her hand. "Thanks, Tina." He says before what she said hits him like a ton of bricks. "I still have an apartment?"





On their way to his apartment, Greg couldn't help but notice all the damage in the downtown area. "What happened while I was gone?"

Tina takes a deep breath. "There was a firefight several months ago." She says. "On one side was Cyrus and the USO, the other were the Shadows. Earth wasn't the only planet affected though."

Greg raises an eyebrow. "Shadows?"

Tina nods. "That's the name of the artificial life forms that were created billions of years ago."

If the universe taught Greg anything it's that the truth really is stranger than fiction. "How many casualties?"

Tina turns the car into a parking lot. The parking lot of his apartment building. "One too many..." She says before parking in front of the building. "We hope to see you again soon, Greg."

Greg steps out of the car. "Likewise." He says before closing the door. "Thank you guys so much for taking care of the place."

Tina nods. "That's our job." She says. "Welcome home, Greg."





Greg enters his apartment, surprised none of his neighbors greeted him. His laptop sat closed on the coffee table. The entertainment center still had his stuff in it. Now for the moment of truth. He walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator, which was well stocked. He grabs a half gallon of milk and checks out the sell by date. Everything was fresh. He pulls out the orange juice and pours himself a glass before heading to the coffee table.

Greg sits down at the sofa and sets the glass next to the laptop before opening it. "Where did I put it?" He asks himself as he searches for the power supply for his laptop. He opens the sofa's center console and finds it. "Right where I left you."

He plugs the power supply into the laptop, then into the wall outlet and then turns it on. He's greeted with the quiet sound of the laptop's fan followed by the Windows 7 splash screen. There was something different about the desktop though. There was a new folder labeled "Equus" and the wallpaper was that of Applejack. He opens up the folder and is greeted by four subfolders labeled "Season 1", "Season 2", "Season 3" and "Equestria Girls". He opens up the "Season 2" subfolder and finds twenty-six video files. He scans the titles until he comes across "A Canterlot Wedding".

Greg smiles seeing the title. He did want to see Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's wedding. Time to see how it went.





Greg spent almost an hour and a half watching the videos. It was probably a good thing he didn't stay for the wedding and for the battle with King Sombra, but he wished he could've helped out.

He gets a Skype video call from his mother and answers. "Hey, mom." He says.

His mother smiles. "Greg! Oh thank god you're alright!" She says, breaking into tears. "Your father and I were so worried about you. Is Kate there by any chance?"

Greg shakes his head. "Unfortunately not." He says grimly. "I need to get a hold of her parents and let everyone know what happened." He continued. He had the lie completely fleshed out. He didn't want to lie, but it'd be better for everyone if he did. He sees Kate's mother log into Skype. "Speak of the devil." He says. "Hang on, I'll get you guys into a group chat."

He starts the group video chat and Kate's mother had the same reaction to seeing Greg as his own did. "Leslie, is your husband home?" He asks.

Leslie shakes her head. "No, he's at work right now." She answers. "Where's Kate?"

Greg takes a deep breath. "I regret to inform you that she's dead..." He begins truthfully. "We decided to take a vacation in Colorado, then we got the idea to join a Peace Corps type group and we were sent to the Middle East." The lie began.

Both mothers shrug. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Greg's mom asks.

"Yeah, if we had known that you two were going to do that-" Kate's mom says.

"It was a spur of the moment thing and it slipped our minds." He explains. "We were helping some people get to an aid station, an IED detonated and..."

The two nod. "Why didn't we hear anything about it?" Leslie asks.

Greg shakes his head. "My best guess is they were flooded with so much paperwork. It didn't happen long ago, maybe three weeks ago. I just got off of a plane from Colorado hours ago." He continues. "I'm sorry, Leslie. Even I barely made it out alive."

Leslie nods, wiping away some tears. "I'm sure you did everything you could to help her."

Greg's mom was breathing heavily and wiping away her own tears. "She was such a sweet girl." She says. "What are you going to do now, Greg?"

He shrugs. "I'm not sure. There's a group in Colorado who offered me a job... I might take that." He says. "It'll pay well and I'll get to visit new places."

The mothers nod. "Then do it, Greg." Leslie says.

His mother agreed. "Yeah. At this point, you'll need some distractions."

"I'll talk to you guys later." He says before closing the chat. He hadn't noticed yet, but there was a new contact in his Skype list, it belonged to the Universal Security Organization. He calls up the contact.

After a few rings, the connection was established. "This is Dennis Michaels of the Universal Security Organization, how can I help you today?" The man on the other end said.

"Hi, my name is Greg Sanders. I was won-"

"Oh! Mister Sanders! We've heard a lot about you." Dennis interrupts. "I'm going to assume you want to return to Equus."

"Yeah." Greg says. "How long would it take to get me out there?" He asks.

"We can get you here as soon as you're ready."

Greg lets out a quiet sigh. "Well... I'm ready."

"Excellent." Dennis says. "I'll let SRG control know right away."

"Thank you." Greg says before closing the chat.

How long was it going to take? Apparently not long. Five minutes after he talked to Dennis, a rift opens up in his living room. "Damn, that's accurate." He comments before standing up and walks through the rift.





He exits the portal, which closes up behind them. He takes a look around his new surroundings. It looked like Earth human architecture. "Where are am I?" He asks.

Cyrus and the woman from earlier walk up to him. "Welcome to USO headquarters in Seattle." Cyrus answers, shaking Greg's hand before turning back to the woman. "I'm going to help Greg out." He says before giving her a quick kiss. "I'll be in Cadamia after I see him off, Aur."

"Aur" walks up to Greg and shakes his hand. "Good luck, Greg." She says before walking away.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Greg asks Cyrus.

"Yeah. Aurora Filnore. I met her when fighting Clive back on her home world." Cyrus answers. "I wouldn't want to get on her bad side, though. She can be pretty mean." He continues.

"We're in Seattle?" Greg asks. "I thought you guys were based in Colorado."

Cyrus shakes his head. "Nope. You were found in Colorado, so we borrowed the interrogation room." He answers. "People from all over the world are employed at the USO."

The two move on and enter the control room. The SRG operator glances back at Cyrus before returning to his workstation. "Cyrus." He calls.

Cyrus walks up to the operator. "Hey, Dave." He says. "Any chance we can open a rift to Equus?" He asks.

Dave scoffs. "Of course I can." He says. "Planning on more observation?"

Cyrus lets out a quiet grunt. "I'm planning on taking this guy to see some friends of his."

Dave turns and looks at Greg. "Greg Sanders." He says with an almost impressed tone. "The formerly abducted human." He continues, looking at Cyrus. "Is he going to join the USO?" He asks.

Cyrus shrugs, noticing Greg's curious look. "That's up to him, I suppose."

Greg was feeling ignored at this point. "Excuse me." He says. "I don't want to sound rude, but can we hurry this up?"

Dave chuckles. "Sorry, Greg. I'll get right on it." He says, turning back to his computer. He turns on the PA system. "Outgoing rift to Equus in thirty minutes."

Greg follows Cyrus out of the room. "Thirty minutes?" He asks.

Cyrus glances over at Greg. "Technically we could open a rift now, but it's a good idea to let the device cool down." He advises. "In the meantime, I can show you what your friends have been up to."

The two enter yet another room. This time with various locations on different monitors. Cyrus walks up to the agent sitting in front of it. "Could you pull up the Equus footage, dated February sixteen, 2013?" He requests.

"Yeah, sure." The agent responds. Promptly pulling up the footage and placing the video in the center monitor.

Greg gives the video an odd look. "I watched four episodes at home, but what I don't understand is why it looks like a flash cartoon."

"That's a mystery, even to us." The agent answers. "It's been a hit with a lot of people, young and old." He continues, eliciting a shudder from Cyrus, who was far from being what the fandom dubbed a "brony", but he showed no animosity to those who were. It wasn't his place to judge someone based on their taste in TV shows.

"Wait... people actually watch this?" Greg asks, unsure as to whether this was a good idea or not.

"A lot of what we watch on television is abridged footage from different worlds." Cyrus says. "Most come from alternate realities." He continues, patting Greg on the shoulder before walking to the door. "I'll be back when it's time."





The video was finished and Greg wasn't sure what to make of it. "Six minutes until the rift to Equus opens up!" Dave said over the PA.

"Looks like I better make my way to the control room." Greg says. "Thanks."

"No problem." The agent says. "I hope it works out for ya."

Greg stands up and walks to the door. He stops before opening it and turns to the agent. "Dave said something about me joining you guys." He says. "What's that about?"

The agent set the middle screen to a live feed. "What you've managed to do in the last few years have impressed the bosses." He answers. "If they feel that you're ready to join the ranks, they'll ask you to. The decision to actually do so ultimately lies with you."

Greg leaves the room and meets up with Cyrus in the hallway. "Thank you again, Cyrus." He says, shaking the man's hand.

"No problem." He responds. "At least you'll be able to catch up with your new friends."

Greg nods. "Will you be going with me?" He asks.

"I'm afraid I can't, Greg." Cyrus answers. "I'm going to be busy for a while." He continues. "In more ways than one." He finishes, jabbing Greg in the side with his elbow.

Cyrus and Greg enter the SRG room. "Ten seconds until the Equus rift opens!" Dave updates on the PA.

To Greg, that ten seconds felt like an eternity. Lots of questions race through his mind: Would they remember him? Should he join these people? Among others.

The rift opens and Cyrus pats Greg on the back. "The rift will take you to their farm close to the Apple residence." He says.

A USO agent enters the room and hands something to Cyrus before leaving. "Ah yes!" Cyrus says to himself, handing a portable SRG to Greg. "Your own SRG, Greg." He says. "It's got a speed dial function, and speed dial one will bring you here."

Greg takes the portable device. "Cyrus... do you guys honestly think I'm USO material."

Cyrus nods. "We all saw what you've done. You stood up against alien scientists, blew up their ship then took responsibility for your actions." He assures Greg. "We would've ended up rescuing you if they weren't a benevolent race." He finishes, smacking him on the back. "Go on now, don't keep those ponies waiting."

Greg puts on the SRG and slowly approaches the rift. As he stands in front of it, he touches the portal. It felt like a liquid substance, but he didn't get wet. It's now or never, he thought before stepping into the rift.